Warriors | A Prophecy Reborn: Book 2. (A Path Beyond Stars)

~A Path Beyond Stars: Chapter 24~

"A ThunderClan apprentice," Reedtail breathed.
"You knew her then?" Russetfire guessed.
"Yes, we were good friends," Fernfeather replied, standing and turning to the other two she-cats with a quick glance at Blackpatch's body. "We became apprentices around the same time, but her father died and her mother demanded WindClan take her. I believe her specific words were, 'Send her to WindClan or I'll grant her wish of her being able to see Gorseleaf again'."
"Wow," Reedtail said with an angered flick of her tail. "What happened to her mother and father?"
"Gorseleaf died during a WindClan attack," Fernfeather explained. "Everything was fine before that, but after his death, Flowerfur fell apart and blamed his death on Blackpatch. Eventually, not long after Blackpatch was sent away, Flowerfur fell ill to Blackcough. Nobody knew she even had it, even the Medicine Cat who was frequently checking on the Clan. There were quite a few Flowers in our Clan at the time, too," she added with a chuckle.
Maybe StarClan thought it was a bad idea to send Blackpatch away, Reedtail thought for a moment.
"Not long after her death," Fernfeather went on, "Leafstar and Juniper, our newer deputy, also died. I believe Leafstar lost his remaining three lives to a badger that crushed his ribcage, and Juniper was picked up by a fox while grabbing herbs for our Medicine Cat."
"Who was the Medicine Cat?" asked Russetfire immediately. "It wasn't a dark tortoiseshell tom, was it? Quite old with yellow eyes?"
"Shadedclaw?" Fernfeather said. "Yes, it was. Have you spoken to him?"
"No," Russetfire admitted, "but Russetwhisker said once that she had been his apprentice and that he would've been able to help with whatever illness Stonestar has."
"Strange. He hasn't visited you in any dreams?"
"None," Russetfire said with a regretful shake of her head.
Fernfeather turned back to Blackpatch's body after a long moment of silence between the three. "Reedtail, go find Ashpelt and Frostpaw and bring them back to camp," said the deputy. She flicked her tail and Russetfire slunk back to her den. "I'll bury her and her kit. Neither of them deserved a death like this, not so soon."
"Perhaps she tried to warn us and was attacked," Reedtail muttered.
Fernfeather walked over to pick up the dead kit first and place it further from its mother, beginning to dig a hole.
Reedtail left the deputy to the burial and walked off, looking for her half-brother and his apprentice.
"Ashpelt!" Reedtail called. She could smell prey scurrying around the area but continued on Ashpelt and Frostpaw's trail. Their scents were getting stronger the further she went.
"Ashpelt! Frostpaw!" She reached the border between ThunderClan, Twolegplace and WindClan. She stood there for a moment, looking around at the surrounding rocks and trees hoping that one of them would come out from behind somewhere.
The border stayed silent, save for the chirping birds and the wind blowing the dead leaves along the ground.
Finally, after what felt like an age, she heard Frostpaw call her name. "Reedtail!"
A moment later, she saw the small gray apprentice bounding over from a large rock.
Frostpaw skidded to a stop at Reedtail's feet, panting. "I can't find Ashpelt," she said after regaining her breath.
"Did you see where he last went?" Reedtail asked.
"We were patrolling near here and he said he'd stop to hunt," Frostpaw said. "He told me to go that way," she added, flicking her tail back at the way she had just come. "I came back here before and couldn't find him, so I went back there to check, but he wasn't there."
I know where that irresponsible little badger is, she thought with a slight scoff of disapproval.
"I'll take you back to camp," she said to the apprentice. "Afterwards, I'm coming back out here to look for him myself."
Frostpaw nodded as she followed Reedtail back to camp. On the way, they passed Fernfeather, covering the last of the dirt over the dead body of Blackpatch and her kit.
"What happened?" Frostpaw quietly asked Reedtail.
"A friend from WindClan died," she muttered. She hoped the young apprentice wouldn't question her further on the matter, and, to her relief, she didn't.
Reedtail left Frostpaw with her brothers and ran back to the border, knowing only too well that Ashpelt would be at Twolegplace.
She jumped over the fence that belonged to Horizon, and previously Snow, to find Ashpelt and Horizon sitting near a large Catmint plant. Reedtail was surprised it had survived throughout the leaf-bare.
"Ashpelt," she hissed. The two of the cats looked at her as she jumped down into the garden.
"Hello, Reedtail," Horizon greeted her happily. Ashpelt looked everywhere except in Reedtail's direction, probably to avoid the furious look that flared in her eyes.
"Where in StarClan's name have you been?" she snarled. "Frostpaw's been looking for you! You lied to her and told her to hunt for herself? Are you insane? Half-Sight and his rogues could've gotten to her had I not found her!"
Ashpelt's ears were flat against his head and he looked down at his paws in regret. "I-I'm sorry, but-"
"But what?" Reedtail growled. "You need to take your duties as a mentor more seriously, or else Frostpaw could end up getting hurt, or worse!"
Horizon's fur was standing up now in confusion and fear at Reedtail's rage.
"I didn't think-" Ashpelt started.
"No, you didn't," Reedtail interrupted. "If that apprentice of yours ends up in trouble, so will you, but it won't be Fernfeather or Stonestar you'll have to deal with."
Ashpelt closed his eyes and let out a deep breath.
Horizon looked slightly embarrassed, then said, "Reedtail, I know your Clan is going through troubling times right now..."
"Troubling?" Reedtail scoffed. "That's a light way of saying it."
"...but wouldn't it be easier to just... let it go?" Horizon said hesitantly.
"Let it go? While our Clanmates are off fighting for their lives with no support of the missing Clans? I doubt we'll live to see the next six moons before Half-Sight has his way."
"Half-Sight is a problem, I know," Horizon said. "But... you and your Clan wouldn't be in so much danger if you all maybe... came here or left."
Her solution sounded more like a question. Reedtail saw Ashpelt twitch his tail in disagreement. He clearly didn't want to live in Twolegplace, regardless of his love for Horizon.
"You?" said a voice from behind. Reedtail looked up at the fence to see Jackson staring right at her.
"Hello, Jackson," Horizon said, giving her brother a nod of greeting. "These are my wildcat friends, Ashpelt and Reedtail."
"Your wildcat friend attacked my friends," Jackson said skeptically.
"My Clanmates attacked your friends," Reedtail corrected. "I let you leave."
Jackson looked over his shoulder, trying not to admit to that.
"Could you go?" Jackson said eventually.
"We will," Ashpelt said unexpectedly. He stood up and jumped onto the fence, followed by Reedtail.
Ashpelt and Horizon stared at each other for a moment, and then Ashpelt jumped over the fence, running back to ThunderClan without waiting for Reedtail.
Jackson watched as Reedtail bounded through the rocks and trees, leaving Twolegplace and its residents behind.